Italian artists urge exclusion of Israel from Venice Biennale

More than 12,000 leading artists, curators, writers and other cultural figures have signed an open letter, calling for Israel to be excluded from the Venice Art Biennale this year in protest of its ongoing "atrocities" in Gaza, reported Xinhua.

Israel is currently expected to sponsor one of the national pavilions at the 60th edition of the Art Biennale, which will run from April 20 to Nov. 24 in Venice.

The campaign was organized by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA), a newly formed activist group. Those who have endorsed the petition argue that allowing the Israeli Pavilion to open amounted to "platforming art representing a state engaged in ongoing atrocities" in Gaza.

As of late Tuesday, the ANGA has collected more than 12,000 signatories for the letter and the number is still on the rise. Many of the people who signed the letter are current or past participants in the Biennale.

The Venice Biennale is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. The event has been organized every year since 1895.